As I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been wanting to take a “real” vacation, (not just a couple days and not for family reasons) for a looong time but I haven’t been able to these past few years for various reasons. I was finally able to last year in September 2023, and my sister and I made plans for a cruise around Ireland.
It however did not go according to plan. To begin with the waves were extremely rough with the ship rocking nonstop. But I was willing to put up with that, we were on a cruise after all.
My sister had a hard time and spent most of the first two days in the cabin, only going out to get food.
We were unable to go outside or on the top deck due to the weather, with the Captain apologizing, saying that it was all due to “rough weather”. I want you to remember that, they said it was only “rough weather”.
Day three we spent in Cobh and Cork Ireland. We had a great time, as we left early and spent the whole day out and about. We ended up taking the train to Cork, walked the whole city, stopped at Merchant’s Quay Shopping Center, visited Marks & Spencer (M&S), looked through the Old English Market, went to the Crawford Art Gallery, and visited the Titanic Experience in Cobh. While at the Titanic Experince I noticed we had the same amount of passengers on our cruise ship as the Titanic did.
The next day we were supposed to go to Dingle, but we were unable to reach our port and the Captain apologized and said the weather was “too rough“. As the port was too small for our ship to dock, we would have had to taxi from the ship to shore; which as he said in the current rough weather would make this impossible. The Captain said we would be heading to the next port instead.
We were extremely disappointed and hoped that the next day we would be able to continue. Again, I tried to keep my mood up and make the best of it, even though on the inside I felt terrible.
The next day we were supposed to go to Limerick/Foynes; but again the water was “too rough”. This was really frustrating and heartbreaking; but that evening the Captain finally revealed the truth; Ireland had been attacked by Hurricane Agnes. The Captain planned to take us up to Belfast to shelter off the coast, but he warned us that we might not be able to get off the ship until we reached Southampton for the final disembarkation
We were heartbroken; I felt frustrated, and furious; running the full gamut of emotions.
I then felt even more frustrated and furious when I found out that before we boarded the ship Ireland had been on a storm watch, and when we were off in Cobh/Cork; a hurricane warning went into effect. We spent two days stuck on a ship due to “rough weather” when they knew the whole time it was a hurricane and neglected to tell us.
I understand them not telling us before we boarded as they probably weren’t sure the storm warning could become anything, but when they knew there was a hurricane they should have warned us. I am still furious that Norwegian Cruise Line felt no qualms about keeping that information from us. Yes, they eventually did but what if things had gone terribly wrong? What if we ended up being affected by the hurricane? What if we ended up in a modern version of The Poseidon Adventure? What if we had missed the chance to reach out to our families and say goodbye?
Their apology regarding our missing ports and hiding the information regarding our safety was $50.
Oh wait, not $50 but $50 on-board credit-money that could only be spent on the ship and had to be spent by end of the trip or else it would evaporate. $50 didn’t go far on board (it was only enough to buy like 10 Starbucks drinks, 5 room services, or laundry services for 5 shirts.) We didn’t end up having to worry about how to we were going to spend the money as even though we were told it couldn’t be used for the $20 per person tip they charged us everyday; they ended up taking the money and spending it exactly on that.
My sister and I were so disappointed at the fact that we spent all this money and made all these plans and it might come to naught. We tried to buck up but those three days stuck on the ship were some of the worst I ever had.
The ship constantly rocked with everyone sliding and slipping as they tried to keep their balance. We also had constant rain and wind beating on the windows and the sea thrashed angrily. The elevators kept moving extremely slow and broke down twice (luckily I wasn’t on it); so I instead took my chances with the stairs even though they were unsafe from the rocking and there was a risk of bodily harm every time you took one. Taking a shower was another danger sport and I ended up slipping one day when a wave caused me to lose my balance.
The stewards, waiters, cooks, etc staff were great but guest services were terrible. They constantly gave misinformation, were extremely antagonistic, and very unhelpful. I would not recommend ever asking them for help.
The ship was extremely boring, with most of the passengers being 60+ and with these being unplanned sea days, half the activities were canceled due to weather, and the other half were things like “learning how to use your phone’s camera”, sudoku, etc. We went to every art auction they had on board, but nothing was really suited to my tastes or budget.
There was food, but with all the people stuck on board there was no place to sit. They did let you take food to your room as everyone seems to spend as little time as possible in their rooms. When you ate at a restaurant you had ti order everything at once because chances are you would never see your waitstaff again. I don‘t blame the waitstaff, they were doing the best they could under strained circumstances.
The only good thing to happen while at sea was that we were finally able to eat in the very fancy dining room, the Versailles room. The formal dinning room was included in our cruise cost but you had to make a reservation. From the first day they opened Resturant reservations it had been booked solid. As they only held reservations for 15 minutes, we decided to go one evening and wait outside; being able to be seated when a party didn’t show up. My sister laughed at me for ordering everything I wanted to eat off the menu, but I was determined to receive my money’s worth.
The time spent on the ship was not a pleasant experience at all. Now I don’t blame NCL for the Hurricane, but I don’t like the way they acted after the warning went into effect and the way their guest services staff treated us. I would never cruise with NCL again.
So why did being stuck on the ship make me understand Emma more? Well I now know what it is like to be stuck on a ship with people older than you, full of activities that are not ones you would find interesting. Games like sudoku and crossword puzzles were fine, but there were a lot more of the “learn how to use your phone’s camera” type activities than any other programs.
I just reread Emma and when this line came up I felt that “fearfully” anticipated:
“These were the ladies whom Emma found
herself very frequently able to collect; and
happy was she, for her father’s sake..She
was delighted to see her father look
comfortable, and very much pleased with
herself for contriving things so well; but the
quiet prosings of three such women made
her feel that every evening so spent was
indeed one of the long evenings she had
fearfully anticipated.”
Every day I was stuck on the ship made me dread another day on there.
After a point we were both so bored we would have loved to have a Harriet Smith and had some life in the trip. I tried my best to make friends but no one was interested, everyone was in a terrible mood having been stuck inside with nowhere to go; every room full of people as no one wanted to be stuck in their cabins. There was no where to sit in the cruise ship that wasn’t packed with people.
Unlike Emma, I’m a reader.
I was fortunate to have my kindle and ended up read about 20 books on those three days stuck at sea.
It’s too bad Emma never was one for reading. I do not think it would have kept her from meddling, but I think it would have filled her lonely hours and softened her character more.
Thankfully I also had other things to do as I had packed many things to keep me busy on the plane ride, like my coloring books, word search, etc. All those things kept me from going mad.
Thank God we were okay and ended up being untouched and safe from the hurricane. The following day on September 29th we were finally able to go to Killeybegs’ port and be back on land. You can bet I was one of the first people off the ship, ready to be back on land.
For more Ireland posts, go to Crawford Art Gallery’s “Recasting Canova” Exhibit in Cork, Ireland
For more on Emma, go to Emma Audiobook Narrated by Nadia May
For more on cruises, go to Ireland Cruise: My Jane Austen Travel Must Haves
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